Neonatal Nursing? Should I switch my major??

BeachsideRN, ASN · Jun 29, 2016

I am starting my first year of college in the fall and am going into Speech Pathology, but am thinking of switching to neonatal nursing. Being a neonatal RN seems like a better fit, but I am afraid of the schooling being filled with all the nasty stuff. Would I have to deal with old people who have gross rotting infections? I want to avoid that if I could.

I don't think any of us come into nursing thinking 'I can't wait to clean up poop and evaluate stage 4 pressure ulcers all day long'

Julius Seizure · Jun 30, 2016

Speech therapy is a great career! You can even work in a childrens hospital with kids if you want. I kind of wish that i had explored it, or physical therapy as a career path. I think you should stick with it....but at least shadow a nurse or two first before you decide to make the switch.

missmollie, ADN, BSN, RN · Jun 30, 2016

I don't think any of us come into nursing thinking 'I can't wait to clean up poop and evaluate stage 4 pressure ulcers all day long'

Speak for yourself. Nothing makes my day shine like wiping where the sun don't.

(/sarcasm)

BeachsideRN, ASN · Jul 1, 2016

Speak for yourself. Nothing makes my day shine like wiping where the sun don't.
(/sarcasm)

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

GourmandG · Jul 13, 2016

I've cleaned/wiped a patient's genital area whom wet her bed, and cleaned/wiped a different patient whom did a # 2 in her bed as well. It literally took 3 of us and 2 entire boxes of wipes to clean up that mess! I've given a suppository (if you don't know, look it up), and assisted with dressing pressure ulcers including an unstageable one (again, if you don't know, look it up). I've had to suction mucous from someone's throat in order for her to breath and let me tell you, the sound of the suction and seeing the mucous fill up the container is no fun! You will most likely also get the opportunity to change an amputee's dressing and need to gown up with mask before entering a patient's room if applicable. Needless to say, there are too many to list and this was just the first semester!

You are expected to help perform whatever duties are required while you shadow your nurse. This is how you learn, get hands on experience and how the professors deem you competent and safe to work with patients. And coincidentally, my first semester focus was on geriatrics.

I suggest volunteering at the local hospital and if possible, shadowing an RN for a few days. I also recommend continuing with your Speech Pathology path and see about becoming a CNA. Depending on where you go, you can take one class to be a CNA and some places will even hire you without a CNA certificate if they are willing to train you. CNAs and RNs are not the same, but I think working as a CNA for 6 months or so will give you a good idea if you want to be in the nursing field.

I heard of a previous nursing student that dropped out of the program when she found out that being a nurse requires touching people. It'd be a shame to invest all that time and money on prerequisites just to drop out and start over in a different path.

If you know what you are getting into, go for it and good luck!

BeachsideRN, ASN · Jul 18, 2016

I've cleaned/wiped a patient's genital area whom wet her bed, and cleaned/wiped a different patient whom did a # 2 in her bed as well. It literally took 3 of us and 2 entire boxes of wipes to clean up that mess! I've given a suppository (if you don't know, look it up), and assisted with dressing pressure ulcers including an unstageable one (again, if you don't know, look it up). I've had to suction mucous from someone's throat in order for her to breath and let me tell you, the sound of the suction and seeing the mucous fill up the container is no fun! You will most likely also get the opportunity to change an amputee's dressing and need to gown up with mask before entering a patient's room if applicable. Needless to say, there are too many to list and this was just the first semester!
You are expected to help perform whatever duties are required while you shadow your nurse. This is how you learn, get hands on experience and how the professors deem you competent and safe to work with patients. And coincidentally, my first semester focus was on geriatrics.
I suggest volunteering at the local hospital and if possible, shadowing an RN for a few days. I also recommend continuing with your Speech Pathology path and see about becoming a CNA. Depending on where you go, you can take one class to be a CNA and some places will even hire you without a CNA certificate if they are willing to train you. CNAs and RNs are not the same, but I think working as a CNA for 6 months or so will give you a good idea if you want to be in the nursing field.
I heard of a previous nursing student that dropped out of the program when she found out that being a nurse requires touching people. It'd be a shame to invest all that time and money on prerequisites just to drop out and start over in a different path.
If you know what you are getting into, go for it and good luck!

Mucus ::shiver:: I'd rather wipe butts than suction any day. But I still do it as needed. In lie you sometimes have to put your big kid britches on and suck it up and do something you don't wanna do, with a smile on your face and realize that the person on the receiving end is probably not stoked to be in that position as a patient either.

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Jul 18, 2016

I am starting my first year of college in the fall and am going into Speech Pathology, but am thinking of switching to neonatal nursing. Being a neonatal RN seems like a better fit, but I am afraid of the schooling being filled with all the nasty stuff. Would I have to deal with old people who have gross rotting infections? I want to avoid that if I could.

You don't major in neonatal nursing, just nursing. It isn't like going to school to become a doctor, you don't specialize. Yes, school is filled with all the nasty, disgusting & vomit inducing things you won't like. There is no way to get around it. Just because you want to work with neonates doesn't mean that you get to skip all the stuff you don't like. There is a reason for that.

You probably won't get a job that lets you work with neonates right out of school. It is a tough job to get into & unless you know of a hospital that has a new grad program for NICU, most NICUs only hire nurses with a couple years experience.

If you skipped out on doing the tasks you don't like, how would you be safe for practice? You have to get checked off on a lot of skills in lab before you can do them in clinicals. On top of that, your nursing instructor will want to see you physically complete the task on a patient or else you run the chance of failing clinicals. Of course if there aren't enough experiences to go around, it's different. But if the opportunity presents itself you can't run away from it.

It sounds to me that you should keep your focus on Speech Pathology. I know you came back & said you can handle anything thrown at you, I don't believe it. Nursing is very stressful & you often times have to do things you didn't exactly love in clinicals.

A lot of hospitals are chronically short staffed so you can't go request an aide. Also there are some hospitals that are getting rid of CNAs & having it be a nurse only floor. Even if you do have an aide & they are busy, would you really leave a patient soiled in their bed until? I hope not.

NICUismylife, ADN, BSN, RN · Jul 24, 2016

Wow, speech pathology and NICU are two very different choices.

I worked with infants in a daycare for 4 years and discovered my passion for babies. I went to school with NICU in mind, having a few clinical shifts in NICU has really solidified that decision. NICU is 100% my calling, my passion. We need passionate people in every department, and if babies are your passion, then by all means, pursue it. But, yes, like the PPs stated, you have to do your 2 years of clinical with adults to reach those little ones. I'm counting down (1 semester to go!). In over 100 clinical days, I have literally only had 4 days in NICU. Those days are what has help kept me going, lol.

That said, like someone else mentioned, NICU is not all about snuggling babies. You will have babies die. You will have babies going through severe drug withdrawal and have to watch their mother come in and snuggle them and demand that you give them more morphine or another dose of methadone, and you will have to have the ability to not judge that mother. You will invest months of your time taking care of and bonding with an infant and a family only to lose that child. You will blame yourself. You will need to know how to comfort a grieving parent while controlling your own grief. Now, yes, you will experience joy, you will celebrate as babies get better and go home, but this will not happen with every patient. You need to know that you can handle the negative side, especially if you know ahead of time that you don't want to take care of "old people."

And finally, if you do want to do NICU, choose your program carefully. I chose an amazing school in an under-served area and we have new grads go to NICU every semester. It is not like that in every area. Many regions, you have to do your time in med-surg (adults) first.